Have you ever felt like you are navigating through your professional life alone? If you are like most executives and small business owners the answer is yes. In a corporation, the higher up the ladder you go the harder it is to find someone to discuss dreams, goals, actions, and success strategy. This is also true of the small business owner. Having a coach is like having a needed connection that cannot be made with others. For example:

Your spouse may listen but the dynamics of marriage relationship may cloud perspective and objectivity.

Your friends want to be helpful but they don’t have the training to identify real issues and they don’t have the time commitment.

Other business associates or networking partners do not always have the same perspectives and may be in competition.

Coaching helps you have clarity and well-ordered priorities. It can give you confidence in your position because you have been helped to think matters through thoroughly. A coach can help you to identify what skill-sets you or your team members need to develop for the next stage or business or your career and what resources or actions are needed in order to achieve this. The coach also brings experience of similar situations from other businesses. While people like to think that their problems are unique, they rarely are, and bringing another industry perspective can be refreshing and enlightening.

What is the difference between coaching and consulting?

While both coaches and consultants help facilitate personal development, the approaches and goals are very different. Here’s how:

Consultants are problem solvers. The consultant goes in with expertise to look at your situation diagnose it and then tell you want to do in order to “fix” it.

The goal of consulting is typically to maximize profits.

Coaches are people developers. They don’t tell their clients what to do; they ask questions. They help unlock your potential and discover solutions. They help you look inside yourself and uncover blind spots, and bring real issues to the surface.

Testimonial

I engaged Grant’s services to help me get the best results with my restaurant and my employees. It is important that we all be on the same page. Grant helped me clarify my purpose, my goals and my vision and properly communicate that to my entire staff. The results included a group of employees throughout the restaurant (front of the house and back of house) who worked as a team to deliver great food, and a great guest experience to our customers. Since then I have used what I learned in working with Grant to hire and expand my staff and to open a second restaurant.